Buoyant valve control means for flush tanks



Dec. 11, 1962 H. E. NEW

BUOYANT VALVE CONTROL MEANS FOR FLUSH TANKS Filed Sept. 11, 1961INVENTOR HARRY E. NEW flaw My W ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,067,432BUOYANT VALVE CONTROL MEANS FOR FLUSH TANKS Harry E. New, 118 CrittendenLane, Newport News, Va. Filed Sept. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 137,170 2 Claims.(Cl. 4-67) This invention provides a new and improved arrangement forclosing the buoyant valve of flu s l 1 tanks for toilets and like flushtanks, whereby the amount of water used to flush may be controlled. Thisinvention is accomplished by the attachment of a flexible connectorbetween the buoyant valve assembly and the flush actuating linkagewhereby the buoyant valve can be pulled downward by the actuatinglinkage causing the buoyant valve to close at any time during theflushing cycle.

iln conventional flush tanks, the entire contents of the tank isdischarged once the actuating lever has been operated. Various methodshave been suggested for prematurely closing the buoyant valve by pushingit closed. The buoyant valve stem is loosely fitted in a guide whichallows it to tilt from the vertical plane when the buoyant valve isopen, thus creating friction between the valve stem and guide whichassists the buoyant valve to stay open until all the water in the tankhas discharged. It can be readily understood that pushing down of thetilted valve stem has a tendency to bind the stem in the guide requiringconsiderable operator force to close the valve. Addition of weight tothe buoyant valve has also been proposed to overcome this friction. Ascan be readily understood the addition of very much weight to thebuoyant valve would cause premature closing of the valve when aconventional flushing is desired.

It is therefore the principal object of this invention to provide a newand novel means for prematurely closing the buoyant valve for flushtanks a any time during the flushing cycle thus allowing the operator tocontrol the amount of water discharged, resulting in a considerablesavings in water used.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention are as follows:

(a) The improved valve control means can be easily and readily installedor removed from conventional tanks without altering the standard parts.The conventional operation of the flush tank is not aflected by theinstallation of the invention.

(b) The said valve control means is simple and inexpensive inconstruction being durable and flexible in adjustment to normalvariations in conventional tank construction.

(c) The said valve control means is light in weight thus eliminating theaddition of objectionable weight to the conventional flushing mechanism.

(d) The said control means is attached to existing parts of aconventional flush in such a manner as to pull the buoyant valve closedwhich reduces binding of the valve stem in the guide thus improving thevalve operating efficiency.

(e) The said control means is easily installed and ad-.

justed with simple tools and easily understood instructions.

Other objects of the invention will be set forth in the followingdescription and drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a front vertical sectional drawing of a conventional flushtank for water toilets and the like.

FIG. 2 is a detail drawing of the invention mechanism attached betweenthe buoyant valve stem and the flush actuating link.

FIG. 3 is a right end vertical sectional drawing of the essential partsof a flush assembly embodying the invention, the buoyant valve beingseated in its valve seat and the actuating linkage in its normalinoperative position.

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3, but illustrating the opened buoyantvalve in flushing position. The flushing linkage is supported by theflexible connector attached to the buoyant valve assembly.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but illustrating the flush actuatinglinkage returned by the operator to its lowest position whereby theattached inventive flexible connector has pulled the buoyant valve to aposition where it will be closed by the discharging water thru the valveseat.

FIG. 6 is a drawing of a modified collar having a lever attached wherebythe position of attachment of the flexible connector may be varied tochange the angle of pull.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, a conventional flush tank T isshown. The tank is equipped with a flush out-let 11 located in thebottom of the tank and having its lower end connected to a bowl or thelike (not shown) in any desired manner. The upper end of the flushoutlet 11 is equipped with a valve seat 10, fitted with a buoyant valve5, having a valve stem 4 loosely fitted in a guide 6. The valve stem 4having a suitable loop or bend at its upper end is slideably connectedby a loop in flush actuating link 3 to the flush actuating lever 2. Theflush actuating lever 2 is controlled by the operation of an externallymounted handle 1 pivotally connected to said lever 2 by bolt 12. Thefilling of tank T is controlled by valve 7 which is opened and closed byfloat 8. Flushing is accomplished by pressing down on handle 1 of theflush actuating linkage which un-seats buoyant valve assembly 4 and 5causing it to float up against guide 6 until the water level 13 islowered to the top of valve seat 10 at which time the incoming waterfromfill pipe outlet 14 agitates the lowered water level causing buoyantvalve 5 to reseat. The loose fit of valve stem 4 in guide 6 allows valvestem 4 to be pulled out of verticle line by the arc of movement of flushactuating lever 2 shown in its extreme upward position by dotted lines.This tilted position of valve stem 4 assists buoyant valve 5 to stay inits uppermost position until the water level 13 is lowered to the levelof valve seat 10. Occasionally the agitation of the water by fill pi-peoutlet 14 is insufficient to cause buoyant valve 5 to reseat, making itnecessary for the operator to jiggle the handle 1 to overcome thefriction between the tilted valve stem 4 and guide 6 to cause areseating of buoyant valve 5.

What has been described so far is the conventional mechanism andoperation of flush tanks for water toilets and the like equipped with abuoyant valve to control flushing. The invention herein is shown in FIG.2 which is a flexible connector 9 composed of a nylon ten pound testmonofilament a attached at either end to brass collar b equipped with ascrew adjustment 0 for positioning it when mounted on valve stem 4 andthe rigid flush actuating link 3.

FIG. 3 shows the buoyant valve 5 and control mechanism in its normalinoperative seated position with the invention installed. The flexibleconnector 9 is installed as follows: The float 8 (FIG. 1) is fastened inan up position by a suitable hook or cord to prevent filling of the tankwith water. Tank is flushed by pressing down on handle 1. Valve stem 4is unscrewed from buoyant valve 5 and removed from the tank with flushactuating link 3. Collars b of connector 9 are then mounted respectivelyon the lower part of link 3 and on the upper part of stem 4, as shown inFIGURE 2, and the collars are held in proper position by tightening thescrews c. The assembled wires and connectors are then reinstalled in thetank first by inserting the bent end of link 3 in flush actuating lever2, then placing valve stem 4 in guide 6 after which buoyant valve 5 isscrewed onto valve stem 4. The hook or string is removed from float 8 torefill the tank for restored operation.

The length of the flexible connector is adjustable as 1 e3 desired. Apreferred length is equivalent to the length of free play between flushactuating link 3 and the valve stem 4 plus approximately one half thelength of the distance between the top ofrseated buoyant valve 5 andbottom of guide 6. The connector can be made as a taught connectionequivalent to the length of the free play of link 3 and the loop ofvalve stem 4 which would allow the connector to pull the buoyant valve 5completely closed when handle 1 is raised. This adjustment whilepossible with this invention is not necessary to 'close the buoyantvalve 5 since the discharging water thru the valve seat and dischargeoutlet 11 will pull the valve closed once the buoyant valve 5 has beenpulled downward approximately one fourth the distance between the bottomof guide 6 and its seated position. The adjustment of the length of theflexible connector 9 affects the amount of downward force exerted by theflush actuating lever 2. The shorter the length of the flexibleconnector 9 the morethe force exerted on the buoyant valve 5 by theflush actuating lever 2. :It can therefore be understood that byadjustment of the length of the flexible connector 9 premature closingof the buoyant valve 5 can be prevented until the operator forces thebuoyant valve 5 closed by lifting the handle 1, thus preserving theconventional flushing characteristics of the flush tank.

The flexible connector 9 is shown connected to the horizontal part ofthe flush actuating link 3 and the top of the valve stem 4. Thepositioning of attachment on the valve stem 4 may be lowered to reducethe free play between actuating link 3 and the collar of the flexibleconnector 9 resulting in an effective lengthening of the flexibleconnector 9 action on the valve stem 4. Similarly the position ofattachment to flush actuating link 3 can be made. Thus it can be readilyunderstood that a predetermined length of the flexible connector 9 canbe adjusted to effectively close the buoyant valve of conventional flushmechanisms having considerable variation in free play design of theflush actuating linkage. While the attachment of the flexible connector9 is preferably mounted as shown, its position of attachment and angleof pullon the flush actuating link 3 and valve stem 4 can be altered soas to increase 'or decrease the friction between the raised and tiltedvalve stem 4 and the guide 6 as may be desired. Further adjustment ofangle of pull of the flexible connector 9 can be obtained by alteringthe design of the collar or suitable clamp or device having a. lever armattached as shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 4 shows the buoyant valve 5 in its flushing position and the handle1 releasedby the operator but supported in a partially down position bythe connector 9. The downward pull of the connector 9 on the valve stem4 is in the arc of movement of the flush actuating lever 2 pulling thevalve stem 4 towards a vertical position resulting in a reduction offriction in guide 6. As previously described, by adjusting the positionof attachment of the inventive flexible connector 9 improved efficiencyof the closing of the buoyant valve is obtained.

FIG. 5 shows the handle 1 in its raised position and the buoyant valve 5pulled one half way closed by the flexible connector 9. When in thisposition the buoyant valve 5 will be pulled closed by the dischargingwater thru valve seat 10 and outlet 11. A flush tank holds from three tofour gallons of water. When approximately one and one half gallons ofwater has discharged after the -buoyant valve 5 has been opened, theoperator can raisethe handle 1 causing the buoyant valve 5 to close. Therapid discharge of water from the full tank will cause the toilet toflush thus saving considerable water.

Having described the invention what is claimed is:

1. In combination with a flush tank having a flush outlet and a buoyantvalve for said outlet, a control mechanism for said buoyant valve, saidmechanism including a stem for said valve mounted in a guide bracket forvertical reciprocation in the direction of the valve axis, a manuallyoperative pivotally mounted actuating lever mounted within said tank andhaving a handle portion outside of said tank, a rigid link memberarticulated with said lever, said stern extending through a lateral ringformed at the lower end of the link member and being slidable therein,said valve stem being provided with an enlarged head at the upper endthereof which is engaged by said link member to lift said valve uponraising of said lever, and a connection between said valve stem and saidrigid link member to cause premature seating of said valve during aflushing operation, when saidlink member is forced downwardly by saidlever, said 'connection comprising a flexible member connected at afirst point to said valve stem near the upper end thereof and connectedto said rigid link at a second point located below said first point;whereby depression of said lever during flushing operation appliestension to said flexible member through said rigid link and pulls saidvalve downw'ardly. k I v I I 2. A combination according to claimlwherein the connection of said flexible member at one of said points isadjustable to fix the extent to which said valve 'is depressed by saidlever.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED ST 1 res PATENTS2,583,468 Castellano Jan. 22, 1952 2,809,378 .Newton Oct. 15, 19572,908.9'14 Lasecki Oct. 20, 1959

